Speaker wire placement conundrums

JSQT

JSQT

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
174
Location
Salem VA
Hello all,

I recently revamped my 2 channel system to include Naim separates (NDX 2 and Supernait 3) after living with my Uniti Nova since January. I've still got Roon Radio running 24/7 on the system so it's at about 50 hours of break-in now and sounding very good indeed.

As part of the deal I also did a speaker cable upgrade to a pair of 12' Transparent Super speaker cables. These are pretty rigid cables with big network boxes on each of the cables. Problem is with the placement of my speakers and the Naim components, the right speaker is only maybe 4' from the components, where the left speaker is a good 10' from the components.

I'm assuming that different length speaker cable is bad, but it also presents a problem with speaker cable housekeeping. I have a straight run to the left speaker that works fine. On the right, I have about 8' of excess cabling and the Volti crossover is in the corner, so I have a twisty coil of rigid excess cable kind of wrapped around the external crossover then twisted around tightly to get the cables plugged into the crossover.

So what could be worse in my situation - having a coil of speaker cable piled up in a corner, or having 2 different lengths of speaker cabling per channel?
 
I would keep them the same length. Someday you may rearrange the setup, or even sell the cables. Both will be more difficult with two unequal in length cables.
 
mep said:
I don’t think any cable company or audio dealer would recommend different lengths of speaker cables.
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And regardless of whether folks can hear a difference or not, the resale would be tough!
 
mep said:
I don’t think any cable company or audio dealer would recommend different lengths of speaker cables.
Click to expand...

It was a few years before A.J. Conti of Basis Audio passed in 2016 that I visited with him at a CES in Vegas.

He had one channel connected with a 6' run of his speaker cable, and the other with a 60' run (hidden from view), to prove his point that various lengths need not matter.

IIRC, no one, including the top reviewers, complained of a problem. In fact, he got great comments re his demos...

That being said, I still buy - or make - my cables with equal lengths. And resale value of an unequal length pair would be low, if not impossible.
 
Jim Smith said:
It was a few years before A.J. Conti of Basis Audio passed in 2016 that I visited with him at a CES in Vegas.

He had one channel connected with a 6' run of his speaker cable, and the other with a 60' run (hidden from view), to prove his point that various lengths need not matter.

IIRC, no one, including the top reviewers, complained of a problem. In fact, he got great comments re his demos...

That being said, I still buy - or make - my cables with equal lengths. And resale value of an unequal length pair would be low, if not impossible.
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I don't think resale would be impossible, just to the length of the shortest cable plus re-termination.
 
Mikado463 said:
I don't think resale would be impossible, just to the length of the shortest cable plus re-termination.
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It might not be impossible, but you would take a double beating on how much money you would lose on resale vs. the severe beating you normally take.
 
Thanks everyone - I thought I was getting email alerts when new posts were made on my thread but I just now came back here and saw these.

RE the unequal speaker length, yeah I guess resale would be the real killer there; although I've never resold cables before I have done trade-ups and I'm not sure if it would work the same way. Regardless, I've had my 12' Transparent Super cable snaked around my JL e110 and Volti crossover box for the past week now and have not noticed any detrimental effects to the sound, although the NDX 2 and SN 3 are still going through the break-in process. I'm guessing it's not so much a matter of sound quality issues as it is OCD about cable placement. Although the Naim fan club do make a big deal about cabling and placement and how they hang off the shelf and whether or not they have been "de-stressed" etc. Maybe the 500 level series is more susceptible to that kind of stuff; I don't think at the Supernait level it makes that much of a difference though.
 
I hate to go here but ........ If you have one speaker cable running straight and one coiled up they will sound different.
 
stereogeek said:
I hate to go here but ........ If you have one speaker cable running straight and one coiled up they will sound different.
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you may create inductance if you coiled the wire, particularity if its a lot of wire. I would stretch it out or make elongated loops if you want to take up slack in one channel.
 
Thanks guys - since this is an old-ish thread I should update that I've rendered the question moot by relocating my entire system where the speakers are equidistant from the amps!
 
puroagave said:
you may create inductance if you coiled the wire, particularity if its a lot of wire. I would stretch it out or make elongated loops if you want to take up slack in one channel.
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If you coil a single conductor wire, you will create an inductor.
But if you coil a two conductor cable, the opposite fields of the two conductors cancel out, so no inductance.
This misunderstanding has been around for as long as AC power extension cords have existed.
 
If you have ever used cable risers and found out they make a difference then a coiled wire and a straight wire will sound different. It has nothing to do with inductance. If you want interesting reading then Google Pandora Power Cord. Please don't shoot the messenger....lol.
 
Then fancy racks, brass points and rubber isolation feet won't matter either. In my earlier post I should have said to Google "Vansevers Pandora Power Cord" instead of what I posted. I's interesting reading.
 
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